The government of Cameroon and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), have gone into partnership to carry out studies in the country in view of undertaking cage farming to bridge the wide demand/supply gap of fish in the country.

The 76,208 European Union dollars (about FCFA 40 million) accord was signed on Friday August 31 in the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries (MINEPIA) between the Minister, Dr. Taiga and FAO's interim Resident Representative, Ousseynou Ndoye.

According to the terms of the accord, few pilot sites will be selected to develop the capacity of local fish farmers. Speaking during the event, Mr Ousseynou Ndoye said cage farming which is raising fish in a large, submerged waters that can be used in a pond that otherwise might not be ideal for farming, has been developed in several African countries and that its introduction in Cameroon would increase local production of fish and reduce imports which do not only drain the State of limited liquidity but contributes as well in widening the perennial deficit of the country's balance of trade. "In Cameroon, the fishery sector contributes to food security, poverty reduction and to the national economy. Currently, with the population growth rate, fish imports have increased substantially leading to massive use of foreign exchange. Modern fish farming or cage farming can increase local fish production significantly so that Cameroon could become self-sufficient," he added. The money, he noted, is coming from the FAO-TCP Facility.

To Dr Taiga, the project is a welcome relief to the country whose potentials in aquaculture ranges from 12,000 to 30,000 metric tonnes per annum but which disturbingly harvests barely 1,000 metric tonnes per annum at moment.